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6.25.14

Converting Old Stables Into a Cool “Music Barn”

A reader named Peggy wrote me about her talented sister Kelly Mittleman, an award-winning designer in Connecticut. For one of her recent projects, she converted what had been old horse stables into a “music barn” that her client can jam out in with his musician friends.

The homeowner and his friends get together once a week to rock out in the barn.

Kelly is a professional singer herself, so she knew how to create a space that musicians could really use. She hired acoustic engineers to line the walls with acoustic panels and then covered them with reclaimed barn wood.

A rickety old ladder used to provide the only access to the loft, so they built a staircase to replace it and make the upstairs space more usable. How cool are these pull-down Murphy-bed bunks for overnight guests?

The barn was intended to be kind of a “guy space,” so they made sure to include a urinal in the bathroom:

Kelly says she wanted to keep the bar in the barn modern enough so it wouldn’t end up looking like “Ye Olde Saloon.”

She found an old Divco milk truck grille in an antique shop to hang over the mantel on the fieldstone fireplace. Making it even cooler — you can turn the headlights on and off with a switch.

What a talented designer! That truck grill over the fireplace made me think of the TV show Black Dog Salvage. Looks like something Mike and Robert would have in their shop. And, that cottage is gorgeous…when can we move in?

I had seen that music barn on Houzz and forwarded it to the male musicians in my life who were all envious. The perfect musicians’ man cave and one I wouldn’t mind hanging around in! Love the stone cottage, too.

Hi, I love your site it’s one of my favorite blogs. Just wanted to let you know of a problem I’ve been having the last few days. Whenever I click on any link it takes me to a Rosetta Stone ad and leaves me there. =< Is this a shared problem with anyone else?

Well, that’s bizarre. I don’t know what could cause that to happen. I just ran through and checked a bunch of links on my blog but they all seem to be working normally from my end. All I know to do when weird things happen like that is to recommend refreshing the page and trying again. Sorry for the hassle, Maureen!!

My oh my! There’s so much to comment on 🙂 Seriously love both spaces. I think this is the first time ever I’ve thought “I’d absolutely love to have that designer work on a space for me”. I really like her work…Katherine Ireland would be another one. One question I have. Would that pistol above the urinal be called a “pee shooter”? Bwahahahahaha 😀